The ending of ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ explained: what happened to Galactus?

The Fantastic Four finally join the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the superhero team’s second cinematic reboot.

Directed by Matt Shakman, The Fantastic Four: First Steps follows Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) as they try to protect their retro-futuristic world from being devoured by Galactus (Ralph Ineson).

• READ MORE: ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ review: third time’s the charm for Marvel’s First Family

The film serves as the opening for Phase Six of the MCU, after Phase Five concluded with Disney+ series Ironheart. This new phase is set to conclude with Avengers: Secret Wars in 2027.

This is the third interpretation of the Fantastic Four on the big screen, following 2005’s Fantastic Four starring Ioan Gruffudd and Chris Evans, and Josh Trank’s 2015 reboot starring Miles Teller which was a box office flop.

What happens at the end of The Fantastic Four: First Steps?

After the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner) wipes out all the teleportation bridges except for the one in New York’s Times Square, thanks to the interference of Johnny Storm, the Fantastic Four concoct a new plan to stop Galactus from destroying Earth.

This plan involves using baby Franklin as bait, so the team can lure Galactus to Times Square and teleport him through the bridge far away from Earth. However, this plan goes awry just as Galactus is about to step on the bridge, when he scans around the city and notices that Johnny Storm has moved the baby to the team’s headquarters.

Galactus marches over and takes the baby but he’s met with resistance. Sue Storm uses her shield-generating powers to force Galactus into the portal, as Reed Richards stretches his way around the cosmic being to save Franklin.

Galactus threatens to re-emerge from the portal after Sue passes out from exhaustion, but just as Johnny barrels towards the portal to sacrifice himself, the Silver Surfer aka Shalla-Bal knocks him aside and sacrifices herself instead. This act of redemption is thanks to Johnny, who made Shalla-Bal see the error of her ways as a servant to Galactus.

After Galactus and Silver Surfer are swallowed into the portal, Reed, Johnny and Ben Grimm rush over to Sue, who is laying dead in the street. While it appears as if her fate is sealed, Reed places Franklin on her chest, and his previously unknown powers resuscitate her. The team celebrate their victory and the introduction of Franklin into the Fantastic Four.

Is Galactus dead?

By the end of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Galactus and the Silver Surfer have been teleported to an unknown place far away from Earth. Considering he’s such an iconic villain in Marvel’s pantheon though, it’s very likely Galactus will return in the future.

What happens in the post-credit scene?

The true ending of the film is the post-credit scene, where we see Sue taking care of Franklin in the Fantastic Four’s headquarters four years later. When Franklin is left alone, a cloaked man with a silver mask appears, teasing the arrival of Victor Von Doom.

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